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On the 12th of May, Ouyang Shuo returned to Shanhai City.
Little Blue and Little White had been promoted to guardian beasts, so they were even more reluctant to leave the Spirit Beast Pavilion. Ouyang Shuo went to see the two little ones and Xue'er, who was also cultivating in the Spirit Beast Pavilion, before returning to Shanhai City.
Ouyang Shuo could only wait and see what the three little ones would achieve in the future.
As soon as he returned to Shanhai City, Ouyang Shuo summoned Du Ruhui, Zhao Kuo, and Cobra. It had been more than half a month since the plan to attack Leizhou had been formulated. Ouyang Shuo wanted to know the latest developments.
Cobra was the first to report, "Leizhou's area is about the same as Lianzhou Basin. There are currently twenty-seven territories, including twenty-two second-class counties and five third-class counties. There are no first-class counties. "
Ouyang Shuo nodded when he heard this.
If Leizhou was conquered and Jingzhou was excluded, the territory's area would be doubled.
More than half a year had passed since the end of the Battle of Changping.
Even though there were no new battles during this period, the nobility of the various lords was still steadily rising through the suppression of bandits. Most of them were second-class Earls or above.
The lowest ranking among the members of the Alliance of Mountains and Seas was a first-class Earl.
From this, it could be deduced that Di Chen and the others were not far from becoming third-class Marquises.
Ouyang Shuo remembered that the fourth battle in his previous life was triggered by the birth of the fifth county city. There were currently three counties in the China region. As long as two of Di Chen, Lord Chunshen, and Battle Wolf were promoted to Marquises, the fourth battle would be just around the corner.
The promotion mission of a county city was not too difficult for the major forces.
Cobra paused for a moment, then continued, "The territories in Leizhou have basically reached the population limit. In other words, the second-class counties have two brigades of five thousand soldiers. The five third-class counties have all formed city guard divisions. The total military strength of the entire Leizhou region is close to one hundred and eighty thousand. If we include the scattered city guards of the subsidiary territories, a conservative estimate would be at least two hundred thousand. "
If they were all gathered together, it would be enough to destroy the entire Dragon Xiang Legion.
Fortunately, the situation was not at its worst yet.
His brother-in-law, Song Wen, had already replied to Ouyang Shuo. In the Thunder Prefecture, there were a total of eight territories that had joined the Heavenly Frost Alliance. All of them were second-class counties.
With regards to these territories, Ouyang Shuo believed that when the army gained the upper hand, they would be able to see the situation clearly.
The feedback from the Black Serpent was that it had completed the infiltration of five territories.
In this way, it was equivalent to dissolving more than thirty percent of his opponent's strength.
Even so, with just the Dragon Xiang Legion's Second Regiment and Imperial Guards, it would be difficult for them to successfully conquer Thunder Province. Needless to say, they could not afford to suffer heavy casualties.
Ouyang Shuo was confident that with the support of the special characteristics of the territory, coupled with elite equipment and valiant generals, it wouldn't be a problem for Shanhai City's army to fight against three enemies alone.
With Bai Qi's leadership, even if they were to face an enemy force four times their size, Shanhai City's army would still have the confidence to face them head-on. Any more and it would be a huge test.
Furthermore, when he considered that the battle of Thunder Province would be focused on attacking cities, it would be even more difficult. Therefore, he estimated that he would need to invest at least one or two more Regiments in order to successfully conquer Thunder Province.
Of the four Regiments of the Dragon Xiang Legion, the First Regiment had to cross the Hundred Thousand Mountain Range, the Third Regiment had to defend the Mulan Fortress, and the only one that could be mobilized was the Fourth Regiment led by Mu Guiying.
Mobilizing the Fourth Regiment would require a certain amount of risk.
This was because once the Fourth Regiment was mobilized, the Imperial Guards would have to go on an expedition. The entire defense of Shanhai City would be placed on the shoulders of the City Guards. Without a reserve force, it would be extremely dangerous.
After much consideration, Ouyang Shuo decided to leave the three thousand Featherwood Guards in Shanhai City. Although he didn't think that the Yan Huang Alliance would choose to cause trouble at this time, he still had to take precautions.
Caution was always a Lord's greatest virtue.
At the same time, the Dragon Xiang Legion's First Regiment would also delay their crossing of the Hundred Thousand Mountain Range. They would temporarily be stationed near the Hundred Thousand Mountain Range that was bordering the Tianfeng Prefecture.
When the situation in Leizhou City stabilized, Shi Wansui would lead the Dragon Xiang Legion's First Regiment to begin their arduous expedition, preparing to deal a fatal blow to Chiyou City.
In this way, with the City Guards and Featherwood Guards holding the fort in the city, and the Dragon Xiang Legion's First and Third Regiments outside the city, as well as the Tiger Legion stationed in Cliff Mountain City, there shouldn't be a big problem.
Even if the Yan Huang Alliance invaded, they wouldn't be able to take down Shanhai City.
Even if they mobilized the Fourth Regiment, they would only be evenly matched.
Ouyang Shuo's goal was to swiftly sweep through the entire Thunder Province with an unstoppable momentum. Therefore, the best way was to send in another Regiment.
Thinking of this, Ouyang Shuo raised his head and looked at Du Ruhui, "Pass the order to the Tiger Legion, order the First Regiment to be ready to enter the Leizhou City battlefield at any time. The Second Regiment is to strengthen their defenses and provide support to Shanhai City at any time."
"Yes!" Du Ruhui nodded.
"Leizhou is close to the sea, so there might still be naval forces. In this battle of Leizhou, the North Sea Bay Fleet's First Regiment will also enter the battlefield and be responsible for monitoring the sea. If necessary, they can also enter the Leizhou City through the river. "
Although the North Sea Bay Fleet could not attack a city, it was still a good ambush force. Even for the navy, Shanhai City had invested close to 70,000 soldiers in the battle of Thunder Prefecture. It would not be an exaggeration to say that they had gone all out.
Shanhai City was destined to shock the world once again.
After the military meeting ended, Shanhai City's war machine began to operate at high speed.
After the Dragon Legion's Second and Third Regiments left their encampment, they did not gather at Shanhai City. Instead, they boarded disguised merchant ships at the Friendship River and Pool River and directly gathered at the North Sea Port.
The Royal Guard Regiment also left the Royal City under the cover of the night and rushed to the North Sea Port.
Following the North Sea City's development, a civilian port had already been built on the other side of the city. Therefore, as a military port, no merchant ships could get close to the North Sea Port.
The Tiger Legion's First Regiment would board a battleship at Nanshan Port and directly head to the Leizhou City battlefield.
The battleship that was prepared for the Cliff Mountain Fleet's First Regiment had already set off from the North Sea Port. After the battleship restocked at Nanshan Port, it would transport the Tiger Legion's First Regiment to Leizhou City.
Just like that, without the other parties knowing, Shanhai City had already completed the mobilization and assembly of the army.
The naval fleet played an important role in this.
The entire North Sea Bay was under the jurisdiction and territory of Shanhai City's navy. They could do whatever they wanted.
Ouyang Shuo's strategy of hegemony on the sea had finally begun to reap the fruits of his labor.
Because the number of troops mobilized was too large, and the North Sea Bay Fleet's First Regiment could only transport one regiment at a time. Therefore, they had to establish an outpost in Leizhou City.
Fortunately, the shortest voyage between Leizhou City and Lianzhou City was only one day. Even the longest voyage would only take four to five days.
Although they were both near the sea, Leizhou City and Lianzhou Basin were very different. Lianzhou Basin only had one estuary, and the length of the coastline was limited.
Leizhou was different. It was like a carrot, and more than half of its border was buried in the sea. In terms of terrain, Leizhou had the characteristics of 'narrow from east to west and long from north to south'.
Based on the characteristics of this terrain, Bai Qi's battle strategy was to divide the army into three groups and coordinate with each other.
The North Army was led by Mu Guiying, the Fourth Division of the Dragon Xiang Army. The Middle Army was led by Lin Yi, the Royal Guard Division, the core of the army. General Bai Qi was personally in charge of the Royal Guard Division. The South Army was led by Fan Lihua, the First Division of the Tiger Army.
Finally, there was Luo Shixin's Second Regiment. It was also the only cavalry regiment. They made use of their powerful mobility to coordinate with the rest of the army.
Bai Qi's plan was to clear out most of the Thunder Province's territories before the Thunder Province's rulers could react, making it so that they wouldn't be able to unite as one.
Otherwise, it would be a headache if the twenty-seven territories were to coordinate with each other.
In order to prepare for the battle of Leizhou City, Ouyang Shuo had no choice but to break the rules he had set during the Mountain and Sea Alliance Conference and purchase one thousand catapults from Lingxi City.
Mu Guiying's and Fan Lihua's divisions were each equipped with three hundred catapults. The Royal Guard Regiment was equipped with four hundred catapults.
Basically, Ouyang Shuo had swept away three to four months of Lingxi City's production.
Other than the catapults, Ouyang Shuo had also purchased over a hundred siege vehicles and five hundred siege towers. In addition, there were over a thousand scaling ladders manufactured by Shanhai City's military factories. This batch of siege weapons would completely change the course of the battle of Leizhou City.
Ouyang Shuo had spent over thirty-five thousand gold coins just to purchase these siege weapons.
Violet, as the military's liaison officer, had complained a lot about Ouyang Shuo's actions.
Ouyang Shuo had no choice but to apologize to each and every one of them.
His allies were naturally very curious about Shanhai City's purchase of so many catapults at once. However, they held themselves back and did not ask. Even if it was Violet, it was just lip service.
Ouyang Shuo was naturally very grateful for the understanding of his allies. The battle of Leizhou City was a battle that Shanhai City could not afford to lose. Ouyang Shuo had no choice but to be cautious.
Other than purchasing siege weapons, Ouyang Shuo also purchased large amounts of rations from the various merchant associations.
When the army gained a foothold in Leizhou City, the merchant associations' ships would transport millions of units of rations directly to Leizhou City.
In other words, the merchant associations had solved half of the rations transportation problem for the army of Shanhai City.
After the rations were transported to Leizhou City, Shanhai City would be responsible for the transportation of rations within Leizhou City. For this reason, the military had already conscripted fifty thousand corvee laborers in advance and were ready to head to Leizhou City at any time.
If it was not for the end of the spring sowing, it would be really difficult to conscript such a large number of corvee laborers.
One must know that the construction projects in Lianzhou County had never stopped. The demand for craftsmen and labor at the various construction sites was very terrifying.
Roughly speaking, Shanhai City had spent more than sixty thousand gold coins on logistical resources. The fifty thousand gold coins that Ouyang Shuo had kept in his storage pouch had been completely used up.
This did not include the cost of the territory's military workshops and factories. If they were added together, it would probably be even more terrifying. It would easily exceed the hundred thousand gold coins mark.
Otherwise, why would they say that war was fought with economic strength?
After a war, if the territory could not achieve its pre-set strategic goal, it would be enough to completely destroy the territory's economy. (To be continued.)
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